The air blowing in through the vent felt noticeably warmer than the air I'd get with the window open . . . I mean like 10 degrees warmer. I did try fiddling with the dial, and a couple times switching it all the way into the "max" setting (which turns on the AC with only interior circulation) which seemed to help.

But then one day, I happened to have the AC on and noticed it wasn't very effective. I held the back of my hand up to the console vent on the driver's side, and I could feel warm air on the lower edge of the flow, while the upper edge and the left-side vent were blowing cool. I was driving, so I couldn't test out each one, but I tried turning the max down a notch to regular, turning it from driver to windshield and back, whatever. Bottom line was that I could not get unheated outside air.

So, I suppose I should add this to the various things I need the dealer to look into.

I am resurrecting this thread because it appears that no one has come up with a good answer to this problem. When I have the a/c off and the temp control to the coolest setting, the air out of the vents is a lot hotter than ambient. I think the problem is with the design of the cowl.

The 2012 Focus is a lot like the older Focus (and Mazda3, which I have a lot of experience with). When they pulled the base of the windshield forward on the 2012, they left the firewall in the same place, and they pulled the cowl forward as well. The cowl is now unprotected by the firewall and gets full engine heat from the exhaust manifold below. If you open up the air intake on top of the cowl when the car has been running, you can feel how hot the inside surface of the cowl is. Even if the blend doors are working properly, the incoming air is going to be hot. I think that one remedy might be to tape some heat insulation underneath the cowl. Unfortunately there is not much space. I will try it when I get some ambition.

The design of the cowl also explains why it is such a pain to remove the battery or check battery water, get to the struts, check the brake fluid, etc.

That is certainly the most well-thought-out explanation I've seen for the issue so far. And, comparing to my Mk1, your cowl-forward theory makes sense to me. Please update if you get a chance to try the insulation.

This still bothers me, especially on a day that's only moderately warm, when I wouldn't expect to have to use the a/c. But I can't just blow in the outside air, because it's warmer by as much as 5 or 10 degrees.

I'm hoping you make an opportunity to try adding insulation. Let us all know!

Yes I noticed the same 20 degrees above ambient, but I took two steps to cure this problem,
1. full windshield sunscreen - for the dash
2. noticed its worst on a long drive, at 70 mpg the air should cool down the cowl area, there is a second issue- the heater core over time heats the air distribution box. The temp control only routes the air with the blend door, but does not shut off the hot coolant to the core. My solution was to install a 4 port water control valuehttp://www.thermotion.com/topic/18-e...rol-valve.aspx
4 port not 2 so you don't screw up ford's coolant flow design. You don't need the controls they sell, just the value, I wired a DPDT switch in the glove box, UP for 15 seconds opens the value, DOWN for 15 seconds bypass the heater core.
In the summer I have it in bypass and when cold weather comes I turn on the flow. The motor is DC so wire motor to the center switch terminals, 12v to one set outside terminals, and cross the wires from these to the other set of outside terminals. Cut the two heater hoses between the engine and the firewall play attention to the diagram on the web site. also I used a 3 amp fuse for the 12v and it takes a little under 15 secomds for a complete open or close.

PS if someone needs, I made a wiring diagram for another forum member.

I am resurrecting this thread because it appears that no one has come up with a good answer to this problem. When I have the a/c off and the temp control to the coolest setting, the air out of the vents is a lot hotter than ambient. I think the problem is with the design of the cowl.

The 2012 Focus is a lot like the older Focus (and Mazda3, which I have a lot of experience with). When they pulled the base of the windshield forward on the 2012, they left the firewall in the same place, and they pulled the cowl forward as well. The cowl is now unprotected by the firewall and gets full engine heat from the exhaust manifold below.If you open up the air intake on top of the cowl when the car has been running, you can feel how hot the inside surface of the cowl is. Even if the blend doors are working properly, the incoming air is going to be hot. I think that one remedy might be to tape some heat insulation underneath the cowl. Unfortunately there is not much space. I will try it when I get some ambition.

The design of the cowl also explains why it is such a pain to remove the battery or check battery water, get to the struts, check the brake fluid, etc.

I think this is the best reason for the heat. I checked my car out, it is an SEL with dual zone controls. The area under the cowl does have insulation, it is about an inch thick. Could it be some models didn't get the insulation or that it went missing from the build for some reason? Worth a look for those having temp issues. For the record, I don't have the problem.

I think this is the best reason for the heat. I checked my car out, it is an SEL with dual zone controls. The area under the cowl does have insulation, it is about an inch thick. Could it be some models didn't get the insulation or that it went missing from the build for some reason? Worth a look for those having temp issues. For the record, I don't have the problem.

Thanks for the info. I guess it is worth it for me to have my dealer take a look. I could not find the part anywhere on fordparts.com, but that may be because I don't have the right name for it.

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